3 Ireland to introduce LTE next week

The Irish mobile operator Hutchison 3G, which trades as 3 Ireland, has announced that it plans to launch 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services next week. The enhanced 4G service will be available free to all subscribers with LTE-enabled devices until 31 July, after which time it will cost EUR4.99 (USD6.76) a month for post-paid customers; pricing for pre-paid users has not been disclosed. The new network will cover 60% of the population in Galway, Limerick and Waterford at launch, plus 40% of the population in Dublin and Cork, the Irish Times reports. Rival operators Meteor Mobile and Vodafone have already introduced their own LTE-based services, with launches in September 2013 and October 2013 respectively.